A general view of the Jordan Hare Stadium, home of the Auburn Tigers. / Shanna Lockwood, USA TODAY Sports

by James Crepea, USA TODAY Sports

by James Crepea, USA TODAY Sports

Kalvaraz Bessent, a cornerback from St. Mary's, Ga., was one of four men arrested by a Nassau County (Fla.) Sheriff's Deputy and charged with three drug-related felonies, according to Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper.

Leeper said an officer stopped a 2007 Dodge Charger for speeding, clocked at 58 miles per hour in a 45 mile per hour speed zone, on U.S. 1 in western Nassau County shortly at about 10 p.m. Friday evening. Nassau County, Fla. is just south of Camden County, Ga., where Bessent is from.

"Upon approaching the vehicle and talking to the driver (Elbert Thornton, of Jacksonville), deputy smelled a strong odor of burnt marijuana coming from inside the vehicle," Leeper said.

Bessent was in the right front passenger's seat with Artez Ward and Allan Cooper seated in the backseat and a search was conducted of the vehicle.

According to Leeper, a total of 202.5 grams of marijuana, wrapped in four separate bags, was seized from underneath the driver's seat and the right-front passenger seat and a "small hand gun wrapped in a T-shirt" was also recovered underneath the right-front passenger seat.

"Neither the driver or any of the passengers took ownership of the drugs or handgun," Leeper said.

All four were arrested and face the same three felony-related drug charges. None of them was charged with anything related to the firearm, though Leeper said that is standard procedure as the Sheriff's Office obtains additional information on the weapon.

Bessent was released on bond of $5,506 bond - possession of more than 20 grams was $2,502, possession with intent to distribute was $2,502 and drug paraphernalia was $502. His arraignment is scheduled for Feb. 27.

"God knows the truth, and he is going to stick with me through this if nobody else will!!" Bessent tweeted shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday.

Per an Auburn spokesman, coach Gus Malzahn is "aware of the situation and is continuing to gather information" on the arrest.

Rated a four-star prospect, Bessent had 34 tackles, two interceptions and 573 all-purpose yards during his senior season at Camden County (Ga.). He flipped commitments from Alabama in December, was one of five defensive backs in Auburn's class and expected to compete for playing time at boundary corner following the graduation of Chris Davis.

"(He's) very athletic," Malzahn said of Bessent on Wednesday. "(Cornerbacks coach Melvin) Smith identified him as one of the best corners early on. He hung in there and kept recruiting. We feel we have a guy that can help us immediately. He's got very good ball skills and is a good cover guy."

Malzahn's second signing class at Auburn was ranked as high as No. 6 by 247Sports. He cited the year-long process of recruiting as an advantage to finding players with "character" for his 23-member class announced Wednesday.

Auburn is a family, and we really feel like we attract the right type of people over a long period of time if we could develop relationships," Malzahn said. "Our coaches did an outstanding job with that. It's very exciting for the future. We got some outstanding young men. I know a lot of people say that from year to year, but the character of this group is very high."

The only player to be arrested previously in Malzahn's 14-month tenure as Auburn head coach was Demetruce McNeal, who was immediately dismissed from the team in Aug. 2013 following an arrest on drug-related charges.

James Crepea covers Auburn athletics for the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser.